Mumbai, August 27: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty Thursday pared most of their intra-day gains to end marginally higher as monthly derivative contracts expired amid lacklustre global cues.
After touching a high of 39,326.98 during the session, the BSE Sensex succumbed to selling pressure in the last hour of trade. It finally finished at 39,113.47, up 39.55 points or 0.10 per cent.
The NSE Nifty inched up 9.65 points or 0.08 per cent to close at 11,559.25 level.
The Sensex has now gained 893.08 points in five sessions, while the Nifty has climbed 247.05 points.
IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 6.59 per cent, followed by M&M, SBI, HDFC, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma and Maruti.
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On the other hand, ONGC, Bajaj Auto, RIL, Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards, shedding up to 1.47 per cent.
"After opening higher, the markets continued to trade in a positive zone in the afternoon session as traders were encouraged by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that the new resolution framework is expected to give durable relief to borrowers amid the COVID-19 crisis," said Narendra Solanki, head (Equity Research), Anand Rathi.
Speaking at a webinar, Das also said rather than becoming averse to lending, banks have to improve their risk management and governance frameworks, and also build sufficient resilience.
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However, market participants turned cautious as August futures and options (F&O) contracts expired, traders said.
Further, global investors are expecting cues from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the central bank's annual Jackson Hole symposium. Officials in the past have used the meeting, being held online this year, to make market-moving announcements.
Sectorally, the BSE realty index rallied 6.63 per cent, followed by auto, consumer durables, healthcare, bankex, finance, and industrials indices.
Broader BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices settled up to 0.35 per cent higher.
Bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul settled with losses, while Shanghai closed in the positive territory.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a negative note in early deals.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.04 per cent higher at US dollar 46.18 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the rupee soared 48 paise to close at 73.82 against the US dollar after the RBI Governor said the central bank has not exhausted its ammunition to deal with the pandemic-induced stress.
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